


Undefined

by Blink_Blue



Series: Coliver Gift Exchange [3]
Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, Office Party, Oliver's coworkers are dicks, we already knew that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 18:58:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10418928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blink_Blue/pseuds/Blink_Blue
Summary: Set during early S1. Oliver brings Connor to a work party and his co-workers make a shitty joke at Oliver’s expense.





	

They had been seeing each other casually for four weeks. Four weeks of late night dinners, early morning kisses–a bit of illegal computer work sprinkled here and there–and of course, the best sex of Oliver’s life.

Four weeks.

Four weeks full of dirty texts, unannounced visits, _shower sex,_ and take out Thai food. Safe to say, Oliver had never met anyone that got his heart racing the way Connor Walsh does. Every crooked grin Connor throws his way, every devious sparkle in his eyes, the way he moves his hips and _struts_ with confidence–Oliver can’t decide whether to blush and move out of his way or jump on him. Sometimes he does both.

The question is: is four weeks too soon for a date?

Connor had been adamant when he stated that they’re definitely _not_ a couple. They’re not dating. They’re not boyfriend and boyfriend. He wasn’t even to _think_ about changing that Facebook status. “So what are we?” Oliver had asked him, frowning slightly in confusion, trying not to let the sound of hope creep into his voice. “What are we doing here?”

Connor just smirked that classic Walsh smirk. “We’re having fun,” Connor had said, right before he reached for Oliver’s belt buckle.

They’re not dating. They’re not a couple. They’re just… undefined.

So Oliver’s shoulders sag a bit as he chews his bottom lip nervously, watching the other man from across the room. What’s the worse that could happen? Connor laughs at the suggestion and tells him flat out _no?_ That wouldn’t be the end of the world. Embarrassing sure… but he’s suffered worse.

Oliver clears his throat awkwardly and shuffles over to the kitchen where Connor’s cracking open two beers on the counter. “I uh… I have this thing next week… um…”

Connor looks up and raises an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

“It’s a work thing,” Oliver says quickly. “My boss just got a big promotion. She’s throwing a big party at her house. And um… I was kind of hoping you’d… come with me?”

For a moment Connor’s face is blank–it’s an agonizing two and a half seconds–before he breaks out in a soft grin. “Oliver, are you asking me to be your date?” He asks teasingly. “Your plus one? You wanna show me off to the co-workers?”

Oliver scoffs and rolls his eyes, looking away as a warm blush spreads across his cheeks. _Yes._ He crosses his arms, refusing to meet the other man’s eyes. “It’s Friday at six, can you make it or not?”

Connor pauses as he studies the other man before him. “I don’t know…” he murmurs. “I got a civil exam on Monday. It’s gonna be a tough weekend…”

Oliver glares at him, but he sees the twinkle in Connor’s gaze. The dick is going to make him beg for it. “Come on,” Oliver groans. “After all the shit you’ve asked me to do, it’s about time you did something for me!”

Connor narrows his eyes and gives him a look of deep thought and bewilderment. “I thought my dick in your ass was me doing something for you.”

“No! God no!” Oliver stammers embarrassed as Connor cackles loudly. Fucking smart ass. “I mean yes! That’s–that’s _great_. But uh… these events are always awkward as hell–” Oliver groans internally when Connor gives him a face. “I know–great incentive, right? But seriously, it’d be way more tolerable with you there. You’d be doing me a huge favor,” Oliver says softly. “Please?”

Connor’s grin slowly grows wider. “I’ll be there.”

A smile breaks out on Oliver’s face as his chest pulses with ridiculous glee and giddiness.

Connor said yes.

Of course, Oliver thinks the hardest part is behind him. All he wanted was to spend a nice evening mingling with his co-workers and the guy he had been seeing. Well, actually what he _really_ wanted was to prove to his ‘friends’–if he could call them that–that he’s not a hermit who spends every night alone, wasting his life away in front of a computer screen. That his dick gets touched by someone other than himself. That he’s not the lame, loser _nerd_ that he’s been labeled his entire fucking life.

That a guy like Connor could take an interest in a guy like him.

Turns out, it’s not that simple.

When six p.m. Friday rolls around, Oliver walks into his boss’s house with a confident smile on his face, a skip in his step, and Connor by his side. The other man looks ridiculously good–he always looks good. Oliver can’t help but feel a little self conscious next to him. Connor came straight from the office of his internship wearing a form fitting suit, dark red shirt, no tie, and _somehow_ , even at the end of a long day of classes and work, there’s not a single strand of hair out of place.

Oliver would be lying if he said he wasn’t envious.

He gives the place a quick look around as he points Connor to the coat closet. Familiar voices drift towards them from around the corner. A small grin plays on his lips as Oliver hangs up his jacket next to Connor’s. For the first time in as long as he can remember, Oliver is actually excited to mingle at an office event.

There aren’t many people from the office that Oliver is close to. The few times he takes up an invitation for drinks outside of work, he ends up a quiet bystander as the others socialize around him. He had simply never been a very outgoing person.

Hopefully, tonight will be different.

He sees his familiar group of friends chatting by the table in the dining room and walks over to them, Connor just a step behind him.

“Hey guys,” Oliver greets them, a smile on his face. “How’s it going?”

“What’s up man? We weren’t sure if you were gonna make it tonight.”

“Wasn’t gonna miss this,” Oliver says with a small laugh. He doesn’t miss the way everyone’s eyes swing to the stranger standing next to him. “Oh, this is Connor.” Oliver turns to introduce him. “Connor, my friends from the office Jackson, Trevor, and Brad.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Connor says, flashing a bright smile. “You all work in I.T. too?”

Brad nods. “A bit of programming and systems architecture too. But yeah.”

“This guy tried to explain some of what he does,” Connor nods in Oliver’s direction. “It’s all mumbo jumbo to me,” he says with a laugh.

Oliver grins widely, eyes fixed on Connor. The man speaks with a confidence and charisma that Oliver had hoped his entire life to develop. How Connor can be so easy going and casual around complete strangers is a mystery to Oliver when he himself mostly feels like an awkward, bumbling idiot–even around people he knows well.

Connor turns to him. “I’m gonna grab a drink. You want something?”

Oliver mentally kicks himself, realizing every other person in the room has a drink in their hand. Of course he should have offered his date a drink. “Yeah, a beer would be great. Thanks.”

He’s still grinning like an idiot with butterflies in his stomach as he watches Connor walk towards a large cooler on the other side of the room.

A moment later when Oliver turns back to his friends, he catches them snickering behind low whispers and raised bottles.

“What’s so funny?” Oliver asks, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. He’s not expecting the smirks and chuckles that he gets in response. The raised eyebrows and humored faces do nothing but confuse him.

“So that’s the guy you’ve been seeing, huh?”

Oliver nods. “Yeah. He’s pretty great, right?” Oliver turns to look for the man in question, and sees Connor chatting with a woman Oliver recognizes to be Trevor’s girlfriend of three years.

“Don’t over do it man, rumor is we’re not getting bonuses this year.”

Oliver frowns when he turns back to Jackson. “What?”

“Make sure to double wrap tonight, okay?” Brad snickers behind his beer bottle and nods in Connor’s direction. “Don’t make us worry about you, bud.”

“What–what are you guys talking about?”

The others laugh at his confusion. “Sorry man, we’re just busting your balls. But no really, does he take American Express?”

A sinking feeling settles in the pit of Oliver’s stomach.

“Come on, your ‘date’?”

“What about him?” Oliver asks quietly.

“He charge by the hour or did you get him for the whole night?”

A hot, burning blush spreads across Oliver’s cheeks as he’s hit with the full insinuation. “He’s not a fucking escort!”

The others raise their hands in defense–a pathetic attempt at innocence when Oliver feels nothing but rage and humiliation boiling under his skin.

“I mean, really, he just doesn’t seem your type is all,” Brad says quickly.

Oliver blinks. Yeah. Yeah, he can see why many people would get that impression. Connor is no doubt an attractive guy. In fact, he’s easily the most attractive guy in most rooms. There’s a different air about him. And Oliver, having been in his proximity for a while now, can only say it’s nothing short of intoxicating. It wouldn’t exactly be inaccurate to describe Connor as his polar opposite.

This is just what he needed. Another reason to doubt himself and question yet again what a guy like Connor is doing hanging out with a guy like him.

Oliver opens his mouth, not even sure what’s about to spill out of it when he feels another presence next to him. His lips snap shut when he turns to see Connor, who hands him a beer.

“Hey, what’d I miss?”

Fuck. A dozen scenarios run through Oliver’s head and he thinks he might drown in the awfulness of it all. He wordlessly pulls Connor to the side, away from the other guys who are no doubt judging him behind feigned polite smiles.

“Let’s get out of here,” Oliver murmurs under his breath. “Let’s just go. I’m not feelin’ it anymore.”

“What?” Connor looks at him in confusion. “Come on, we haven’t even had one drink yet. I thought this was supposed to be a fun, relaxing evening for us. Hey, what’s going on?”

Oliver looks away from Connor’s concerned gaze. Connor’s hand reaches for his arm, pulling him closer–it’s a nice gesture that’s completely lost on him at the moment.

“What’d they say to you?”

“Nothing,” Oliver whispers as his shoulders sag heavily. “Nothing, I just–I just hate these events.”

“They said something to you.” Anger flashes darkly across Connor’s face. “Don’t worry, I have a way with homophobic assholes. This is fucking bullshit that we don’t have to put up with, just let me–”

“No, no! It’s not that!” Oliver quickly grabs Connor’s arm before the other man can cause a scene. “It wasn’t anything like… that.”

Connor looks genuinely surprised. “Then what is it? Oliver?”

Oliver groans internally and shakes his head. What an awful fucking night. It can’t end soon enough. It certainly doesn’t get any better when he hears Trevor’s voice behind him.

“Hey, have you guys met Oliver’s friend?”

Fuck.

They both turn to see a few others have joined their little group. Trevor’s girlfriend, Selene, who Connor was talking to earlier, and Brad’s wife, Tracy.

Oliver attempts a smile that probably looks more like a grimace.

“Hi.”

“Hey Oliver, it’s good to see you again!” Tracy greets him with a smile.

“I’m Connor, Oliver’s date.” Oliver flinches at the word.

“What do you do, Connor?”

“I’m a law student at Middleton. First year.”

“Oh yeah? My sister’s a lawyer. What uh–what classes are you taking?”

Oliver’s only half listening to the conversation, too mortified and distracted by his racing heartbeat and the pounding in his ear drums to focus. But it’s not like Connor needs his help carrying the conversation or anything. A moment later, he’s pulled off to the side by Trevor. He can’t help but cringe at the apologetic look on the other man’s face. It’s not going to make him feel any better. Yet he knows that he’s still going to be forced to be the nice guy and act like it’s all okay.

“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. We were just joking around. We didn’t _really_ think he was a… you know…”

“I’ve heard funnier jokes,” Oliver says dryly.

“We were just messin’ with you. I hope you didn’t take it too personally.”

Oliver scoffs. “Of course not,” he grumbles.

“He just doesn’t seem your type, that’s all. He’s not really what we were expecting.”

Oliver narrows his eyes. “So the idea that a guy like him would come here tonight with me, is actually _less_ believable to you, than the idea of me bringing a hooker to a work party?”

“Not a hooker!” Trevor says quickly, as if that’s the part he has an issue with. “An escort! It’s very different–”

“A _what?!”_

Oliver’s head snaps around to see Connor’s shocked face. The conversation around them comes to an abrupt halt. “You–you thought I was a _what?”_

“No no no! We _didn’t_ think you were a… a uh…it was–it was just a joke!” Trevor looks around for support. Brad and Jackson are conveniently distracted, and the women simply look confused. “We were kidding around!”

“An _escort?!”_ Connor hisses vehemently. “You thought I was a–”

“No! No, we didn’t! I was just saying that we _did not_ think that!” Trevor insists, a hint of fear in his wide eyes. “I swear, it was just a–”

“Just a what?!”

“We should go!” Oliver says suddenly. He places his near full bottle down on the counter and grabs Connor by the arm, dragging him away before he can cause a bigger scene. “Come on Connor, let’s get out of here!”

“He’s not paying for it!” Connor growls, even as he’s dragged away from the group.

“Oh my god,” Oliver groans, completely mortified as he grabs their jackets from the coat closet, desperate to get away as quickly as possible.

“Your co-workers are dicks, you know that?” Connor hisses at him as Oliver pushes him out the front door.

“Yeah, ya think?”

“What a bunch of douchebags!” Connor spins around looking like he’s got half a mind to go back inside and tear them a new one.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Oliver mutters, pushing the other man towards his car.

“Not a big deal?” Connor sputters. “They think I’m a fucking hooker?! A _hooker_ , and you’re paying for it!”

“Well, they really said escort. Which is like way classier.” Oliver shrugs. Somehow seeing Connor all worked up over this is actually making him feel better. “I’m pretty sure they were kidding. Those guys have an awful sense of humor. I don’t get it either.”

“You need better friends,” Connor tells him.

“They’re work friends,” Oliver says dryly. “Fucking brogrammers, I don’t really have a choice.”

Connor’s still grumbling by the time they climb into Oliver’s car.

“It’s still early. You wanna go back to my place?” Oliver’s anger and embarrassment had quickly faded, though Connor’s still making his displeasure quite clear. He finds it endearing. “I promise I won’t ask you to role play Pretty Woman with me.”

Connor smacks him across the arm and Oliver breaks down in a fit of giggles. A hint of a smile spreads across Connor’s lips as Oliver starts the car. He’d much rather spend the night alone with Connor than with his co-workers anyway.

Oliver spares the other man one last glance before pulling out into the road.

“I’m not a fucking escort,” Connor continues to grumble.

Not an escort. Not a boyfriend. They’re certainly not a couple.

Oliver sighs softly, keeping his eyes on the road.

Undefined.

**Author's Note:**

> [x](http://winters-blue-children.tumblr.com)


End file.
